10.03.24: More practice with prepositions [2] accusative case

[The Road to Latin (Chesnutt) 1932]

Laeca Poēta II

Aqua Laecam maximē dēlectat; itaque poēta saepe nāvigat. Poēta ab Ītaliae ōrīs ad proximam īnsulam libenter nāvigat. Multae īnsulae sunt Ītaliae proximae. Nāvicula ad terrās extrēmās nōn nāvigat quod nāvicula nōn est firma. Nāvicula, igitur, ad Graeciam et ad Asiam nōn nāvigat. Hodiē poēta in vīllam ambulat et Iūliam vocat. Tum poēta cum Iūliā ad ōram properat. Poēta et fīlia ad īnsulam magnam nāvigant. In magnā īnsulā nauta habitat. Tandem nāvicula ad ōram īnsulae nāvigat et Iūlia ē nāviculā in terram properat. Casa nautae est proxima aquae. Poēta et fīlia ad casam ambulant. Iūlia in casam properat et nautam salūtat. Posteā nauta et Iūlia in ōrā ambulant et nauta Iūliae fābulās nārrat.

Onerāriae

Onerāriae sunt amplae et firmae; ad terrās extrēmās nāvigant. Ab Ītaliā onerāriae ad Āfricam, ad Graeciam, ad Asiam nāvigant. Onerāriae ūvās et olīvās ad ōrās Asiae portant. Nautae olīvās et ūvās ex onerāriīs in viās portant. Incolae Asiae nautīs pecūniam dant. Ab ōrīs Asiae nautae corbulās et pallās ad Ītaliam portant. Ā Graeciā nautae amphorās et ūrnās portant. Nautae corbulās, pallās, amphorās, ūrnās, in tabernās Ītalicās portant. Fēminae Italicae in tabernās libenter properant et spectant. Fēminae albās pallās et pulchrās amphorās vident; ancillās vocant. Libenter ancillae properant in tabernās; ancillīs quoque pallae et amphorae grātae sunt. Postēā fēminae cum ancillīs ex tabernīs ambulant.

Vocabulary

ad + accusative: to, towards

amplus, -a, -um: roomy, spacious

extrēmus, -a, -um: far, distant

firmus, -a, -um: firm, sturdy

igitur: therefore

in + accusative: into, upon

Ītalicus, -a, -um: of Italy, Italian

onerāria: merchant ship, transport

palla: cloak, mantle

posteā afterwards, later on

salūtāre: to greet; to hail

ūrna water: jar, urn

Notes

[1] Watch out for proximus, -a, -um:

[i] adjective agreeing with the noun

Poēta ¦ ab Italiae ōrīs ¦ ad proximam īnsulam ¦ libenter nāvigat. The poet likes to sail from the shores of Italy to the nearest island.

[ii] still an adjective but taking the dative case:

Multae īnsulae sunt ¦ Italiae [dative] ¦ proximae. Many islands are very near ¦ to Italy.

[2] prepositions with the accusative case

[i] in (in; on): this is an example of a preposition that can be followed by either the ablative (which you saw in the previous post) or the accusative. In German and Russian, this distinction exists: Gmn. ‘in derStadt’ (in town) but ‘in die Stadt’ (to / into town); Russ. ‘v gorode’ (in the town) but ‘v gorod’ (to / into town) i.e. the distinction between being physically in somewhere as opposed to going into somewhere. English can make this distinction but it isn’t consistent: he was in the room; he went in / into the room. In Latin when ‘in’ refers to going from one place into or onto another place, then the accusative is used.

Look at the differences:

In magnā īnsulā [ablative] nauta habitat. The sailor lives on a large island.

Nauta et Iūlia in ōrā [ablative] ambulant. The sailor and Julia walk on the shore.

Although the sailor and Julia are walking i.e. there is movement, the ablative is used to indicate the place where they are walking, not walking from one place to another. That is expressed by the accusative:

Hodiē poēta in vīllam [accusative] ambulat. Today the poet walks into the villa.

Iūlia ē nāviculā in terram properat. Julia hurries out of the little boat onto the land.

Iūlia in casam properat. Julia hurries into the cottage.

Nautae olīvās et ūvās ex onerāriīs in viās portant. The sailors carry the olives and grapes from the merchant ships into the streets.

Nautae corbulās ... in tabernās Ītalicās portant. The sailors carry the baskets ... into the Italian shops.

Ancillae properant in tabernās. The maidservants hurry into the shops.

[ii] ad: if you (dare to) look up ad in, for example, wiktionary, you will find thirteen separate definitions of the preposition! You are advised – strongly – not to do that because it is unnecessary overload. Simply focus on its key meaning of towards something or someone. Of course, like all the prepositions, there are other meanings but keep the learning slow and gradual.

Tum poēta cum Iūliā ad ōram properat. Then the poet hurries with Julia towards the shore.

Poēta … ad proximam īnsulam nāvigat. The poet sails to(wards) the nearest island. It doesn’t suggest he actually gets there!

Onerāriae … ad terrās extrēmās nāvigant. The merchant ships … sail to far-off lands i.e. ad conveys the direction in which the ships go.

In a sense, ad is the opposite of ā / ab i.e. from … to …

Ab Italiā [ablative] onerāriae ad Āfricam, ad Graeciam, ad Asiam nāvigant. The merchant ships sail from Italy to Africa, to Greece, to Asia.

Ab ōrīs Asiae nautae corbulās et pallās ad Italiam portant. The merchant ships carry baskets and cloaks from the shores of Asia to Italy.

[iii] Other prepositions with the accusative case: all, apart from one trāns you have seen in previous posts:

ante: in front of; before

circum: around

post: behind; after

prope: near

trāns: across

These prepositions, too, can have slightly different meanings depending upon context, but, again, just focus on the basics.

A huge amount of Latin vocabulary has found its way into English:

postgraduate

And you most likely use post and ante every day depending on whether you’re talking at:

7 a.m. (ante meridiem = before midday) or 7 p.m. (post meridiem = after midday)

circumference; circumnavigate (and you can see how that word has been put together: circum (around) + nāvigāre: to sail)

transport; transfer; translate, all with the basic notion of carrying something across to somewhere else